Gene Hackman, Betsy's cause of death gets new theory by pathologist

A pathologist has just stepped forward with his personal theory on their cause of death, as well the series of events that might have contributed to it.

This has been shared by the chief medical examiner named James Gill, with the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

For those still unversed, the lack of confirmation surrounding the cause of death has sparked a lot of talk and has led Mr Gill to step forward.

According to People magazine he said, “From the initial kind of circumstances, it seems like he may have collapsed.”

“He's got a history of heart disease. He's got a pacemaker. So that would not be unusual. But the unusual part is that why then did she also collapse?”

“Assuming she would've found him. Then you start wondering about: There is this thing where the stress of seeing someone die that could have triggered a natural death in her,” Mr Gill also noted.

It is pertinent to mention that while the actor Gene Hackman was found in his mudroom, his wife’s body was discovered in the bathroom next to a bottle of prescription pills.

However, with that information another option is also likely, namely that Gene was the one to find her “and was going out to get help or get his phone, and he then collapsed from the stress of that, too. Just as likely. He's older, he’s got known heart disease. But the autopsy would certainly show if she had heart disease or cancer or what have you.”

But overall, he attributed this to “kind of a broken heart-type thing, almost,” as it “has been known to happen” in the past.

After all, “Suddenly finding your loved one dead on the floor that can increase your adrenaline and that stimulates your heart to beat faster, and that can put your heart into an irregular rhythm.”

Hence he claimed, “I think the autopsy and the toxicology testing is what's needed to be seen in order to make that final determination. Otherwise, it's kind of speculation at this point.”